杀。”
"He found your website and showed it to me. He was very happy to be able to read about your ministry and travels. I encouraged him to write, but he is too embarrassed. I am taking the liberty of writing to you myself. I would be grateful if you could email or phone him. Contact with you would mean everything to him.
“他找到了你的网站给我看,他非常高兴能阅读有关你的服务和旅行。我鼓励他写信,但他太窘困不安了。我冒昧地亲自给你写信。如果你能回信或打电话给他的话,我会非常感激。和你联系对他就意味着一切。”
Sincerely,
Linda Sue.
真诚地,
琳达·休
I called back immediately. Linda Sue answered the phone and handed it to Pete.
我马上回了电话。琳达·休接了电话递给皮特。
"Pete, this is your big brother."
“皮特,是你哥哥。”
There was no response. I could hear Linda Sue urging him on in the background.
没有回答,我能听到琳达·休在后面催促他。
"Pete," I continued, "I've been looking for you for years. I never forgot you and I'm here for you now."
“皮特,”我继续道,“我找了你好几年,我从未忘记你,现在我就在这里等你。”
I could sense he was working up the courage to say something.
我能感觉到他正努力鼓起勇气想说些什么。
"Pete!" I exclaimed loudly.
“皮特!”我大声的喊。
"Hare Krsna," he said softly.
“哈瑞奎师那。”他温柔地说道。
For the next hour we reminisced about our childhood and our brief association in France. I asked Pete to be frank with me and he told me of his life as a derelict.
接下去的一个钟头我们回忆了我们的孩童时代和在法国的短暂相聚。我要求皮特到法国和我一起,他告诉我他的生活就像流浪汉一样。
"Why didn't you call me?" I said after a while.
“为什么你不打电话给我?”过了一会我说。
He paused. "I didn't even have a dime to make a phone call," he said, "that's how bad it was. And I was embarrassed."
他停顿一下,“我甚至没有一角硬币打个电话,”他说,“就是这样糟糕,我很困窘。”
"I'm your brother," I said. "You can share anything with me."
“我是你哥哥,”我说,“你能与我分享一切。”
As he continued to narrate his story I could hardly bear to listen. He related how on several occasions he was robbed of his meager possessions and beaten. Several of his street friends had died before his eyes, due to drugs or exposure.
他继续叙述他的故事,我几乎不忍心听下去。他讲述他怎么好几次被人抢走他贫乏的财产和被打。几个他街上的朋友在他的面前因为吸毒或裸露死去。
"How did you tolerate it all?" I asked.
“你怎么能忍受这一切呢?”我问。
Again he paused. "Whenever it got really rough," he said, "I chanted Hare Krsna."
他再次停顿,“情况真的很糟时,”他说,“我唱颂哈瑞奎师那”
I was dumbstruck.
我听的目瞪口呆。
"Although I acted crazily when I was with you in France, I was always hearing that mantra and it stuck in my mind. I understood it was a sort of shelter. And it protected me. For all practical purposes, I should have died a long time ago."
“尽管我和你在巴黎时表现的那么疯狂,我还是经常听这个曼陀罗,它刻在了我的心里。我明白那是一种庇护,它保护了我,实际上我早就应该死了。”
I couldn't believe my ears!
我无法相信我的耳朵!
"So keep chanting," I said, "and don't take your life."
“那就继续唱颂,”我说,“不要放弃你的生命。”
"I won't now," he replied. "Thanks for calling."
“我现在不会了,”他回答,“谢谢你来电话。”
"It's only the beginning," I said. "Krsna's answered your prayers - and mine as well."
“这只是开始,”我说,“奎师那回应了你的祈祷——我的也一样。”
"Lord Krsna, who is like a sun rising in the darkness, like a boat to the drowning, like a sweet rain cloud to those dying of thirst, like fabulous wealth to the poverty-stricken, and like an infallible physician to those afflicted with the most painful disease, has come to grant auspiciousness to us all."
“主奎师那,象黑暗中升起的太阳,象救溺水者的小船,象带给干渴濒死之人的美丽雨云,象带给穷困之人的惊人财富,对受最痛苦的疾病的人来说是高明的医生,给予我们所有人吉祥。”
[Sri Vyasa, Text 51, Rupa Goswami's, Padyavali]
[施瑞·维亚萨,第51节,茹帕·哥斯瓦米的Padyavali]
The next day I phoned and told Pete and Linda Sue that I was flying them and her two children to Poland for the Woodstock Festival in 10 days. They were speechless.
第二天我打电话告诉皮特和琳达·休我将把他们和两个孩子送到波兰来一起过十天的伍德斯托克音乐节。他们一时张口结舌。
"We don't have passports," Linda Sue said. "We don't even have money for a bus to the passport office to apply."
“我们没有护照,” 琳达·休说。“我们甚至没有钱乘巴士到护照办事处去申请。”
"I'll work everything out," I replied, "don't worry."
“我会安排好一切,”我回答,“不要担心。”
"It's a big gamble," my servant said as I hung up the phone. "He's a drug addict and so is she. It's very hard for people like them to give up drugs. It could turn out to be a waste of time and money."
“这是一个很大的冒险,”当我挂断电话时我的仆人说,“他是一个吸毒者,她也是。象这样的人要放弃毒品是多么困难。这只会是浪费时间和金钱。”
"Where there's life there's hope," I said with a smile.
“哪里有生命哪里就有希望,”我微笑着说。
When Pete and his family arrived 10 days later, my servant's words echoed in my mind. And sure enough, as Pete and Linda Sue got out of the car I saw their eyes were red from taking drugs.
十天之后皮特和他的家人到达了,我仆人的话回响在我心里。的的确确,当皮特和琳达·休走出汽车之后我看到了他们因吸毒而发红的眼睛。
"I'll give it my best and depend on the Lord," I said softly as I walked up to Pete and gave him a big hug.
“我会给它我最好的并依靠主,”我轻轻地说着并走向皮特给了他一个有力的拥抱。
Over the next few days we smothered them in love and immersed them in an ocean of nectar: Krsna's Village of Peace at the Polish Woodstock Festival. If they had any intention of taking drugs there was no time - not even a second! And why should they want to? We had brought them into the wonderful world of Krsna consciousness, where all walking is dancing, all talking is singing and there's a festival every day.
接下来的几天我们以爱让他们窒息,让他们沉入甘露的海洋:波兰伍德斯托克音乐节中奎师那的和平村。如果他们有任何吸毒的意图但他们没有时间——甚至一秒钟!为什么他们还需要呢?我们带他们到了奎师那知觉的奇妙世界,那里所有的脚步都是舞蹈,所有的言语都是歌唱,那里天天都是节日。
They couldn't believe their eyes: the huge tent, the prasadam distribution, the cultural exhibits, the devotee bands, the people, everything. My godbrother, BB Govinda Maharaja, kindly called it the greatest show on earth. It melted their hearts.
他们不能相信他们的眼睛:巨大的帐篷,普萨达派发,文化展览,奉献者乐队,人群,所有一切。我的神兄弟,B.B.哥文达·玛哈茹阿佳,亲切地称这为地球上最伟大的展览。这些融化了他们的心。
They stayed drug free throughout the festival and into the next week. Then we took them up north to the Baltic Sea coast for the last two weeks of our summer festivals. It was a blistering place - but to my surprise they had no difficulty.
在节日的期间他们停止了吸毒,还有接下去的一周。然后我们带他们到北部波罗的海的海滨过我们最后两周的夏季节日。那是个酷热的地方——但令我惊讶的是他们一点困难都没有。
"I have always been attracted to India," Linda Sue said one day. "Can you explain more of the philosophy to me?"
“我一直受印度的吸引,”琳达·休有一天说,“你能向我解释更多的哲学吗?”
"Sure I can," I said with a smile.
“我当然可以,”我微笑着说。
At the end she said, "This is what I was always looking for. And you know what Maharaja?"
最后她说,“这就是我一直寻找的,你知道为什么吗,玛哈茹阿佳?”
"No," I replied.
“不知道,”我回答。
"We were so down. We were suffering so much. You can't imagine how grateful we are now."
“我们是这么堕落,我们受了很多苦难,你不能想象我们现在有多感激。”
One day Pete came up to me and said, "Maharaja, do you think it would be a good idea if I started chanting on beads?"
一天皮特来找我,说,“玛哈茹阿佳,你认为我在念珠上念颂是个好主意吗?”
"Of course," I replied.
“当然,”我回答。
"I was thinking of doing two or three rounds a day," he said.
“我在想我一天是不是要念二三圈。”他说。
"Nothing less than 16," I replied with a smile.
“不能少于16圈”,我笑着说。
His jaw dropped.
他的下巴掉了。
"You're 53 years old," I said. "You have to make up for lost time."
“你已经53岁了”我说,“你应该补回失去的时间。”
He hesitated.
他犹豫了。
"Do you remember how you prayed to Krsna to help you 21 years ago in Paris? You stood before Him with your hands folded, begging for mercy."
“你还记得21年前在巴黎你是怎么对奎师那祈祷的吗?你站在他面前双手合十,祈求仁慈。”
Pete squinted and tried hard to remember.
皮特眯起眼睛努力回想。
"Well I remember," I said. "And chanting Hare Krsna is the Lord's answer to your prayer."
“好吧,我记得,”我说,“唱颂哈瑞奎师那就是主对你的祈祷的回答”
Convinced, Pete said, "Okay, 16 rounds it is."
深信的皮特说,“好吧,就念16圈。”
But he couldn't chant 16 rounds a day. Instead, he started chanting 32 rounds, experiencing so much relief and nectar from the holy names.
但是他没有念颂16圈一天,他从32圈开始,经历了那么多安慰和来自圣名的甘露。
A few days later he came to me and said, "From this day onwards, I swear I'll never take drugs, drink alcohol or smoke another cigarette."
几天之后他来跟我说,“经过这些天的进步,我发誓我再也不吸毒,饮酒和抽烟了。”
"That's a tall order," I replied. "Some people say that to make it, you'll have to go through a rehabilitation program and join Alcoholics Anonymous. It's rare to just stop all those things in one day and not revert to them."
“那是个苛刻的要求,”我回答,“有人会说一旦好转,你将不得不回到旧有的习惯,加入酗酒的行列。能在一天内停止那些而又不会再复发的人是很稀罕的。”
Pete became serious. Holding up his bead-bag, he said with conviction, "And rarer still to get the mercy of the holy names."
皮特变得认真了。举起他的念珠袋,他确定地说,“更稀罕的是仍能获得圣名的仁慈。”
What could I say? To argue otherwise would mean I had less faith in the holy names than he. And I wasn't about to be outdone by my little brother!
我还能说什么?去争辩其他就意谓着我对圣名的信心甚至比不过他,难道我不能被我的弟弟胜过!
At the end of the summer tour, Pete and Linda Sue went back to America, but not to San Francisco. They realized there was too much temptation there. Instead, I arranged for them to settle in the devotee community in Alachua, Florida. The devotees there kindly agreed to help them establish a home.
夏日旅行的最后,皮特和琳达·休准备返回美国,但不是去旧金山。他们认识到那里有太多诱惑。这样,我就安排他们迁入佛罗里达州Alachua的奉献者社区,那里的奉献者很友善地答应帮助他们安置一个家。
We maintained contact during their first month there and everything went smoothly. Then to encourage Pete I offered to bring him to India.
他们第一个月在那里时,我们继续保持联系,一切都渐渐平稳。于是为鼓励皮特我提议带他去印度。
On the first day of Kartika we met in Vrindavan. He was still chanting 32 rounds a day and had read the Krsna book thrice, from cover to cover, to prepare for his pilgrimage. Walking around the village of Vrindavan, his eyes lit up as I showed him the transcendental places about which he had read.
卡尔提卡月的第一天我们在温达文相见。他还是每天念颂32圈,他已经从头到尾读了三遍奎师那的故事,为他的朝圣做准备。在温达文的村庄绕拜,当我指出那些他阅读过的超然之地时他的眼睛放着光芒。
After a few days, I asked him if it was too austere, referring to the early onset of winter and the unhygienic conditions in the crowded village.
几天之后,我询问他这里的生活是不是太艰苦了,谈到初冬的进攻和拥挤而不卫生的的村庄。
He smiled and said, "The austerities here are nothing compared with what I've experienced. I am much better off undergoing those here than I was those back home! And I have gained more being intoxicated by t
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